SERIES: Secrets of Wintercraft, book 1
PUBLISHER: Greenwillow
PUBLICATION DATE: June 21, 2011 (originally published May 13, 2010)
ISBN: 9780062026422
PAGES: 320
SOURCE: My library
GENRE: Fantasy
RECOMMENDED FOR: MS boys, girls who like fantasy
OVERALL RATING: Neutral opinion, 2 out of 5 stars
SUMMARY: In hiding since she was a small child, Kate Winters and a boy who worked in her uncle’s bookstore attempt to free Kate’s kidnapped uncle and fight members of the High Council who want to exploit Kate’s ability to reanimate the dead.
WHAT I LIKED: The story has some untapped potential.
WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE: I am stuck in a major reading rut lately. With the exception of Fat Cat by Robin Brande, the past several weeks have been full of mediocre reading selections. While I was at first excited about Shadowcry, the tell-don’t-show writing style and minimal dialogue made it difficult for me to connect with the characters. Silas is the only character I had any connection with whatsoever, and he is supposed to be the evil guy. I hardly knew anything about Kate or Edgar or Artemis; they remained flat and lackluster throughout the story. In an effort to just finish already, I ended up skimming the last quarter of the story.
CONTENT:
- Language: none
- Sexuality: none
- Violence: murder and nefarious spirits
- Drugs/Alcohol: none
STATUS IN MY LIBRARY: We just got it, but without my endorsement in booktalks, it will not likely be popular. I was the first to check it out.